[Open -- Communal] Science! Slumber! Party!

[maxicpolarity]

Who: Liege Maximo and ALL THE PEOPLE
What: Following the 'Second Wave,' Liege has collected a number of living (and dead) Monster samples to be studied. He has sent out the call: all scientists/medics or otherwise capable persons are welcome to attend his laboratory conference to look over the critters and find out what can be found!
When: Now-ish. Liege took a bit to set this up, so all new and old characters can come!
Where: Liege's Temple
Notes:

Bring any characters you want, scientists or not! Anyone who comes (IE posts or threads below) will get some samples of Sharkticons or other monster types to work with, and they will also receive a special LABORATORY KIT from an Acolyte, which features a few simple tools sized to your character so they can do their own experiments in the future!
Your character is welcome to learn the following:

-Monsters have superior strength/stamina to their non-lambda counterparts. (IE a Monster Sharkticon would be more brutal, spikier, and nastier than a standard Sharkticon.)
-Beyond the increased attributes there is no physical difference to their makeup. (IE a Sharkticon is still a Sharkticon, a dragon is still a dragon, DNA, scales, and all.)
-Particularly perceptive individuals may notice a trace of an energy signature on the creatures which matches the 'feel' of the badlands. There may be a link between the two...

Liege won't be able to interact with everyone, so this is your chance to MINGLE with others. Tag around, have fun, spend the night, and enjoy the Maximo's superior wash-racks! If you'd rather just explore the temple, you can do that too.



In the confusing, maze-like depths of Liege's temple, there were hundreds of rooms. Many had been hollowed out from the mountainside, curving inwards in some haphazardly specific pattern as if seeking out the greatest potential for heat. Others jutted out from the side with long, wide windows to let in the light, organized, carefully, for his pursuits. The laboratories, of course, were among these.

The many, many laboratories were among these.

He'd needed them all, of course. In the beginning, there had just been one, and one had been nice for allowing him to perform one type of experiment. He'd had a second built when Solus had given him that energon separator, and the third after he'd brought back organics from his first travels into space. After that, it had been somewhat of a collection, and there were laboratories shoved into corners of his temple like extra books shoved onto shelves. He liked it that way. It meant that his brothers and sisters didn't know about them.

Not all of them.

And it meant he could host parties like these on the few occasions when he deigned to socialize. He made sure each accessible laboratory was well-stocked, filled with tools and at least one experiment subject and also populated by an Acolyte to monitor his guests. There would be energon available, and some organic-favored snacks as well, because he had every intention of showing just how well he treated his aligned when he was paying attention to them.

It never hurt to make the others jealous.

He, himself, had work to do in his main laboratory, and for the most part he intended to stay there, drifting out amongst the others only to peruse their findings or to partake in the briefest of breaks. This was what he loved to do, after all...

...but science was useless without others to observe its happenings.

Having the Refugees around again was, in that way, a gift--one that he intended to open slowly, keeping the wrapping safe so he could use it again next time.

And who knew?

Perhaps, here, amongst those who would come, would be a few worth keeping for himself, or offering further incentives toward.

Comments

[docbot]

Ratchet stands at the entrance to the Temple, consciously stopping himself from shuffling nervously. It's an area that he hasn't been to before, but there oughtn't be any hostiles within the Temple of a FirstForged except perhaps Pharma.

Still, he activates his Link again, pinging Jetfire just in case he'd gotten waylaid on his way to meet Ratchet.

"Are you on your way?"

[organ_pharming]

Pharma was currently occupying one of those laboratories, standing in front of a slab and not stroking his chin, despite trying several times only to remember that he still did not have hands.

What he did have was an acolyte. An acolyte with several tools, one of them being an active welding torch. The sharkticon he'd caught was strapped to the slab and sedated, blissfully unaware of the experiments it would soon be part of.

"Now," Pharma said, gesturing to a piece of paper on the desk, "We'll start here, according to the diagram I've dra- you've drawn up for me. This incision first- be careful not to split the main wire- and then we move on to the left side."

[angleofscience]

He had, honestly, been distracted by the initial survey of the sample given as well as looking over the tools presented, carefully going through what they did. The fact that they also was comfortable sized for him was... definitely a plus.

"Ah... er, yes. A moment," Jetfire said, collected despite the brief, embarrassed lapse that he'd gotten so concentrated on the tools in preparation to go further that he'd forgotten the promise to meet Ratchet outside and walk in.

It didn't, really, take more than "a moment" either. A little over a klik later, Jetfire curved around an outcropping and landed, having left the temple by an other exit which was closer to the lab he'd been in.

"Ratchet. I apologize for the wait."

[noparachutes]

By function he was a scientist, however that part of him only emerged from time to time - when the situation called for it. When his size and skills extended to making him one of the best at killing, it was no question as to which got used more during a war. Not that he ever minded. Killing was something he enjoyed.

But killing here was a bit more. Complicated. Shockwave was no idiot, and as much as eradicating Autobots would keep him busy, it wasn't an option at the present time. Soon perhaps, if he planned correctly. Logically.

So a party of sorts for science? It seemed like a suitable use of his time.

Shockwave had claimed one of the laboratories for his own, silently working away at the samples provided. Although Shockwave may have been silent, the room certainly wasn't; tentacles broken through the ground and waving about, holding onto Shockwave's tools... Prodding the poor Acolyte trying to stop any further destruction of the flooring.

[maxicpolarity]

There was one lab that Liege was certain he would not need to check up on, but found himself heading toward nevertheless. It's tenant had been busy lately, working on a cure for a disease that left terrible rust-stains across the floors. He'd already caught the samurai out on the hallway, once, carefully mopping up after himself, which was one of the few reasons Liege had tolerated the mech's presence at all.

Pharma, on the other hand, rarely left his lab, and kept it almost spotless.

Liege suspected this was why his green glyph glowed, now, on the medic's arm.

That, however, was not what he had come to talk about today. He entered the lab, glancing to the Acolyte that Pharma had 'claimed,' taking great pleasure as it bowed to him and stepped back when he approached, effectively stopping the other's work. "Your tenacity amongst such setbacks is admirable," he began, looking over the diagram that rested on the desk. "Can nothing stop you from your task?"

[maxicpolarity]

Liege hadn't believed it, when he'd heard.

He hadn't believed that anyone would have the audacity to ruin one of his labs that he so graciously allowed to be used. He hadn't believed someone would continue using it, even after the initial affront.

He hadn't believed it, at all, even when he stood, glowering in the doorway, his countenance dark.

"You were supposed to experiment on your Monster, not let it loose to rip my laboratory to shreds," he hissed, and looked to the strange, purple, spiked mech who appeared to be the offender. This was not going to go well, at all.

[noparachutes]

The fact that he's upset the host does little to move Shockwave away from what he's working on. It mattered little to him if others viewed the Driller as an issue. The creature was always like this, and keeping it away from him for extended periods of time was difficult to say the least.

"The Driller is not a monster." Why everyone thought it was he'd never understand. The creature was magnificent, and so few seemed to realize that.

"I'm certain your laboratory can be fixed."

[ex_dishonestly997]

Over the eons Starscream had let his mental, metaphorical subscription to Scientific Cybertronian lapse somewhat--there had been more military pursuits, and as a direct result he'd lost a lot of the panache in that field he once had. Wheeljack could talk circles around him hypothetically, these days.

But Sharkticon monsters weren't exactly hypothetical, and he wasn't passing up the opportunity to earn the approval--better? the esteem--of his new "commander".

Which explained why he was elbow-joint deep in one of the experimental subjects, vivisecting it with slow and deliberate, if unpracticed, and not overly sadistic purpose. Opening it up alive was far more enlightening than killing it first - and to think he and Jetfire had had this moral debate only a few days ago.

"Now--obviously I wasn't here to fight these things, but judging from the tensile strength of these cords, they're stronger than your run-of-the-mill Sharkticon--" He vented out a whistle. "Nasty looking motherboards."

[organ_pharming]

His acolyte was just lowering the scalpel when Liege arrived, interrupting the delicate procedure and provoking the jet medic's ire. He scowled at the bowing fool and turned to regard his First Forged with a frown.

"Liege. How kind of you to drop by," he said, wing-tips twitching with irritation. His little display of disdain was quickly stored away though, the jet's proverbial feathers smoothed by the praise and the knowledge that he owed this mech quite a bit. Best not to piss him off.

Especially if he didn't want to start having recharge dreams about Tarn's foot pressing down on his back again.

"Nothing short of divine intervention, I'd say," Pharma answered with a wry smile.

[maxicpolarity]

It is always at times like these that Liege wishes his powers were more flashy, and immediate. Prima's intense light, for instance, would have been incredibly useful in getting his point across, or even Nexus's energon manipulation.

However, he does possess something far greater than Nexus could ever comprehend, and he wields that now with an icy air of coolness.

His tact.

"This creature belongs to you, then," he confirmed, letting his optics drift over a single tentacle. "Which means either you will be the one to apologize and make reparations, or it will assuage my displeasure with its cries. Certainly you'll not do me the disservice to imagine that destruction of my property would be taken lightly?"

[must_do_science]

You didn't need to say 'Free scientific equipment' more than once to get Wheeljack's attention. Given the dire straits and criminally understocked labs he'd had to make do with over the recent events on cybertron, he was more than willing to pause in setting up his space in one of Nexus' crater-bunkers to drive across to another of the First Forged's locations. Soon enough the northern mountains that marked Leige's domain came into view.

His mind was revving as high as his motor. He'd only been hearing about these 'monster' attacks second-hand and was eager to get a look at some of the captured or killed assailants that had come before him. After all, the more scientific information that could be gathered about the Lambda, the sooner they could understand it.

Arriving, he eagerly transformed and took to wandering through the various labs, poking around and gawking at certain pieces of equipment with both respect and a slight tinge of envy. He still remembered his reason for coming here, of course, but it was currently playing second fiddle to his geeking out over the research equipment itself.

"Oh. Wow. A gravimetric impactor with built in particle radiation spectrometer? Those were just being developed back on... well. Old Cybertron."

[maxicpolarity]

Liege couldn't help but lean over as he passed by, curious at the rather unusual methods this jet employed. The frame type was familiar, too...had he encountered this mech, before?

"You know, if you hook the fuel pump's feedback line up to the intake, you can keep him alive for much, much longer," he murmured, peering down at the motherboard in question. This one, then, was just like the last.

"Their input voltage is higher, too. I've considered wiring one up to a dummy system and seeing what commands are hard-wired and what it's adapted, but I lack compatible circuitry." Liege glanced toward the jet, again, considering his frame type, now, with a completely different purpose.

[idle_time]

Wreck-Gar was not, in the strictest terms, a scientist. No more so than the average Junkion was, of course. But really, was working to turn part of your planet into a spaceship really all that remarkable?

What he was, however, was certainly a medic. If a Junkion couldn't fix it, odds were, it couldn't be fixed.

He stood outside the temple for a moment, watching it, idly humming. "Enter freely and of your own will?"

With a shrug, the Junkion headed on inside.

[must_do_science]

Each lab that Wheeljack visited contained more unique and fascinating equipment than the last. The acolyte that had materialized soon after his entering Liege's grounds kept patiently attempting to steer the engineer to a particular alcove, to which Wheeljack kept responding that he would... as soon as he checked out the next room.

In this case, the next lab turned out to be the first one he'd found that had another actual mech in it. He didn't notice this at first.

"-just want to see what's in this one. Ah, mostly medical stuff. ...Oop." He stopped short, abruptly realizing he was intruding.

[maxicpolarity]

"Please, don't stop on my account." Liege murmured, noting the wing's twitch, the glower, and even the careful hiding of each tell. Pharma was a mech well-accustomed to keeping himself controlled, and Liege found that interesting. Even so, it didn't take a genius of his intellect to understand what made Pharma aggravated, and Liege couldn't entirely blame him. Having one's work interrupted could throw off an entire line of thought, taking time from more important tasks, causing one to go back through their work again, and again, and again if the outside distraction was able to persist.

He didn't tolerate distractions, well, but, generally, that was because there were no such distractions that could actually benefit him. He wasn't likely to be approached by someone who could contribute, or even someone who could understand what work he did, but looking at Pharma's diagrams now he had the feeling that would change.

He'd been gifted with talented individuals from the Lambda.

This, he didn't mind.

Still, Pharma would be considerably more efficient with hands. Reaching out, he took the mech by the stump, looking over the clean-cut edges of the wound. "I notice you're no longer rusting," he commented, "but I can't imagine that even my acolyte could make as precise of cuts as you'll be needing for this dissection to work. Tell me, would you like a hand?"

[noparachutes]

Shockwave doesn't bother turning, he can speak about this and work on the sample he'd been given at the same time. The conversation was hardly one worth his full attention anyway, and he was being complained to about apologizing. Even less of a reason to attempt to care.

"I do not apologize," he rumbles, making a minor change to his work. If this resulted in a fight then so be it, a lack of war was getting to him. Shockwave had never done well outside of one.

The tentacles recoil back into the ground, but all is not well as soon the Driller is pushing its large head out of the ground, breaking even more of the lab's once perfect floor. It didn't quite understand all that had been said, but it did understand the threat, and it's sure to try and make itself look large. Puffing out the plating on its head and hissing. It's clear that it's not some normal monster, aside from Shockwave claiming ownership of it, as there on the top of its head is a glowing symbol. Megatronus' if looked at correctly, matching the one on its master's arm.

"It does not enjoy being left alone. A part of its natural instinct that I was not able to... Improve."

Shockwave waves his hand dismissively, wanting to get back to fully focusing on his work. "Was there a point to this, or did you simply come to complain?"

[automobile_enthusiast]

Knock Out, despite his particular Megatron's assertions to the contrary, was not much of a scientist. He certainly wasn't here tonight for science-- no, he was here to make a delivery. If he noticed how many others there were in the temple tonight, or how many of the labs contained specimens, it wasn't enough to give him pause.

Tucking the box he carried under one arm, he poked his head into Pharma's lab. "Anyone home~?"

[organ_pharming]

"Not quite as nasty as your technique," a voice opines from the doorway. It's Pharma, a jet medic from the wings and insignias and one that also seems to be missing his hands. It doesn't seem to bother him as much as the sloppy display piled on Starscream's slab.

"Getting rusty, or have you always had this gentle of an approach?"

[ex_dishonestly997]

Starscream didn't look up at first, looking down into the open cavity to see where the indicated pump was, and letting out a soft vent at his own carelessness. "Makes perfect sense. I've only ever--"

And then he looked up, and saw who he was talking to, and froze for a second in position with his hands against the intake, right before the words sank in.

"Well, ah. --My gracious host. It's an honor." The words were a little rusty, but the intent was passionate enough. And he didn't miss that look, hastening to add, "My primary aim is identifying their--structural weaknesses. If a second wave arrives, that way, it'll be easier to handle them."

[ex_dishonestly997]

"Well, thanks very much." His reply was light--jovial--and then he turned to peer at the handless mech with a slightly bewildered look. Oh, right. It occurs to him that probably hands, or material for hands, is scarce here.

But he doesn't ask what happened, because that wouldn't be rude enough.

"I never did dissection, and I could use an expert opinion. Why don't you give me a hand?"

What a dick.

[organ_pharming]

Pharma was in the middle of instructing his acolyte on the proper procedure for tieing off a main fuel line when he was interrupted for the third time that day. At this point he'd come to expect it though, so instead of scowling or angry questions he merely sighed and turned towards the door.

It was Knock Out. And he was holding a box. Excellent.

"Please come in! Don't mind the mess, we're in the middle of something here," he said with an eager smile.

[organ_pharming]

"No! Not there, you idiot- Here!" The good doctor was in the middle of yelling at his acolyte when Wheeljack poked his head in, trying and failing to direct the mech's shaking scalpel without the use of his hands.

They both turned when they heard the newcomer's voice, Pharma's expression an exasperated glare and the acolyte's one of relief.

"Is there something you need?" he asked tersely.

[organ_pharming]

The medic flinched a little, not expecting the huge First Forged to touch him. The gentle appraisal of his wrists made him shiver and tug the appendage out of Leige's grasp. It reminded him too much of someone else.

"Yes, the experimental cure I developed seems to be working." Of course it was working- he knew exactly how to shut down the disease he had created.

"You're offering to assist me?" Another wing twitch for that awful pun, but mostly incredulity.

[must_do_science]

"Oh, ah. Sorry. Just poking around the place, I didn't know this lab was taken." Wheeljack automatically took a step back, knowing an incoming medic lecture when he heard one. Then he spotted the sharkticon lying on the examination table and his curiosity swelled.

"Oh, so that's the kind of monster that invaded before I got here? Hunh. They don't look quite as, well, monstrous as I thought they would. It would still be a good idea to examine 'em anyway, in case they're linked to the Lambda at all, right?" His optics ran over the prone figure as he talked, before darting to Pharma's acolyte. "Oh and it looks like yer helper has a slightly miscalibrated auxiliary manipulation servo."

[automobile_enthusiast]

"Literally," Knock Out remarked dryly, eying the vivisected creature on the surgical table as he entered the room. He didn't seem bothered by it, dismissing it with a shrug and strolling right on by.

"I suppose you know what I have here~." He hefted the box as he stopped in front of Pharma. A slow grin curled up the corners of his mouth. "Want to see?"